The frozen continent of Antarctica is defined by its snow and ice. On land, freshwater ice sheets kilometres thick sit on top of rock. In the ocean, an area of sea ice twice the size of Australia forms each winter, to break up in summer.
Though distant and intangible to most of us, what happens to Antarctic ice has global impacts, hence researchers want to find the best ways to monitor it in a warming world.
Rosie the EM bird being flown over sea ice Photo: Gemma Brett
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Emeritus Professor Pat Langhorne has had a long and distinguished career as a sea ice physicist in the University of Otago. Now retired, she explains to Claire Concannon about the new sea ice thickness measuring method that has her still excited and coming in to work.
Dr. Inga Smith is doing her last preparations for an upcoming expedition to Antarctica. She explains the phenomena of supercooling and ice crystals under the ice shelves and talks about the aim of her work under the ice.
Dr Inga Smith's project to develop HiPSMI - High Precision Supercooling Measurement Instrument for supercooling measurements under ice shelves is funded through the New Zealand Marsden Fund's Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences Panel.
The soundart used in this episode is from the audiovisual project One Data Day, composed of Beneath_Above - Playing with listening by Elissa Goodrich and featuring field recordings by artist Gabby O'Connor.
